Key2Time2: Part 2: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by lallafangirls
Summary: Mondas is not as uninhabited as Amy might think. AU Part Two of the Key 2 Time 2 series, featuring Romana and Amy.


**Title:** Key 2 Time 2: Part 2: Between a Rock and a Hard Place  
**Author:** HearMeCalling and sneakyangel  
**Rating:** G  
**Characters:** Romana III, Amy  
**Spoilers:** Possible for Key 2 Time, but I highly doubt it.  
**Summary: **Mondas is not as uninhabited as Amy might think. AU  
**Disclaimer:** Funnily enough, neither of us own Doctor Who. If you still think we do, look out for 'Romana's Academy Days', 'What Happened to Romana in E-Space' and probably a great big special featuring Romana, Leela, Sarah Jane, Nyssa, Peri, Ace, Mel, the Brig, 4th Doctor, 5th Doctor, 6th Doctor and 8th Doctor coming to your screens soon.  
**Notes:** 2 bored Fangirls writing something AU about something that hasn't even been released yet. Do you really expect sanity?

**Sequel to Key 2 Time 2: Part 1: On The Other Side. Read this first, otherwise this will make even less sense than it will otherwise.**

**Key 2 Time 2: Part 2: Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

Amy shrugged. Being so young, she knew little more than the basics about planets programmed, in a way, into her by the Guardians. It was obvious her experiences would be nothing compared to a woman who was not only President of a planet commonly known as being masters of Time, but well travelled in more than one Universe. Still, the information given to her contradicted that rather dark look that continued glancing across Romana's face.

"The Cybermen? Do you think a Cyberman could be the segment?"

"The Cybermen..." Romana paused as she gathered her thoughts. "Well, they're a terrifying race. A force to be avoided at all costs. I'm not sure that even the Guardians would mess around with them."

"Oh no!" Amy fretted. She didn't like this. "Why would a segment be hidden here if the Guardians wouldn't mess with them?"  
"To be entirely honest, I think it's down to the fact that it was 'too easy' for the Doctor and I last time."

Romana's thoughts flashed back through memories of giant squid, warring planets and Shrivenzales. Fair enough, they'd successfully collected the six pieces all those years ago, but it wasn't exactly what she'd call 'easy'. Amy cleared her throat and Romana snapped out of her thoughts and stared directly at her.

"I'm certain that planet is where the segment is. We need to actually land before I can work out exactly where."

"Well, we'll just have to be careful, then." Romana's tone belied her beliefs.

"I'm not getting a strong reading on the segment. I have a horrible feeling my senses are being interfered with." Amy replied. "But we aren't going to know till we are on the planet."

"I hope this isn't us being lead up a dead end. No doubt some people on Gallifrey wouldn't mind seeing the last of me..." Romana became lost in a reverie again. She seemed to be developing a habit of that with this new body. "But still. Mondas, Cybermen... Anyway, as you're fairly sure it's here, at least, I'll take us in to land."

"The Doctor told me that the Black Guardian had been following you two last time, which is why we were being extra careful - I just didn't count on my sister gong over to his side."

She didn't quite know why she was saying that. Maybe it was something to do with reassuring Romana that she had done a little travelling whilst with the Doctor. If only he hadn't been taken in by Zara! He had dumped her on Grello because her sister had persuaded him that it was her who was working for the Black Guardian, as she wound him around her little sister. Thank goodness she'd managed to get off that godforsaken planet; even if it was with a Time Lady who seemed to have personality shifts as and when it suits her. Amy stepped outside the TARDIS doors. This planet wasn't much of an improvement on Grello. Freezing cold, barren environment and…

"Uh-oh."

Romana peered expectantly through the doors. She really didn't want to set foot on Mondas until she absolutely knew it was safe to be there.

"Well, that was rather unexpected. Amy, get back inside!"

Amy's screams echoed around the open TARDIS. Annoyed, she shook her arms and tried kicking, stamping and spitting at the monsters that had hold of her. As they dragged her away, towards what seemed simply to be a pile of rocks she called out for Romana's help. Romana wasn't sure what these humanoid aliens were, but they were probably in the service of the Cybermen. Spitting feathers at K9 – he always seemed to be under her feet – she eventually found what she was looking for. It came as standard with battle TARDISes – a Cyberman deactivator.

"Romana! Help me!"

Romana could barely hear Amy's scream. The humanoids had already dragged her a significant distance. Stepping warily outside, and closing the TARDIS doors behind her, ensuring the key was safely in her pocket, she slipped the deactivator over her shoulder and began to head out into the rocky terrain.

"I'm coming, Amy," she whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.

Amy wasn't going to give up without a fight. She could still vaguely sense the segment, which naturally spurred her on. Still kicking and struggling, she glared at one of her captors.

"Who are you? Where are you taking me?" Pausing for breath, so she could shout to get her last point made, she shouted "let me go!" right down one of their ears.

"We are Mondans," the voice was horribly monotone as they spoke in unison. "You are an off

worlder. You are being taken to headquarters for processing."

The cliff side appeared to have a door in it. They dragged her, shouting, screaming and struggling down further and further until she was dumped unceremoniously into a dungeon and locked safely inside. Rattling the bars desperately, and calling out to her guards, her every move was ignored by the Mondans.

Romana dragged herself over the rocks, knowing full well this was a hapless task. She had no way of tracking Amy and she was struggling to get over some of the rocks – if only she had chosen a taller body! Then again, she hadn't expected to be let out of her office for a regeneration at least. Taking out the dog whistle located in a hidden pocket in her voluminous robes, she blew sharply on it.

"Oh do hurry up, K9."

She turned; she had obviously attracted the attention of two of the locals. She smiled brightly.

"Oh, hello. I am President Romanadvoratre-hey! What do you think you're doing? Get off me!"

The Mondans replied with whom they were and that they were taking her prisoner. There was something quite unnerving about their voices. Maybe they were what the Cybermen evolved from? For all the thinking she was doing, she was still dragged down and thrown unceremoniously into the same dungeon as Amy. Amy had given up attracting attention now and glared at Romana.

"Nice of you to turn up."

"Oh, you know. No problem." When she was certain they weren't being listened in on, she turned and whispered to Amy. "Have they been looking after you?"

"Not really. They've just left me here. Ignored my shouts. I don't know how long I've been here. Is there any chance of escape?"

Romana disregarded them ignoring her; that wasn't what she meant. "But they didn't hurt you in any way? Oh and of course there's a chance of escape. I just need a pin."

Silently, Romana cursed leaving her sonic screwdriver back on Gallifrey. She could see exactly where it was on her desk. All she had to do was pick it up. Then again, she hadn't exactly planned on running off for a while, too.

"Well, it hurt when they threw me in here, but no, I haven't been tortured. " Amy paused to consider what else Romana had said. "A pin? Hang on."

She emptied her pockets onto the dungeon floor. There wasn't much to be going on in there; a few coins, a couple of scraps of paper and a single, fine scrap of metal.

"Will this do?"

"Yes, yes. That's perfect." Romana scrutinised the metal before heading over to the lock. "Now, how does the Doctor do this?"

Amy paced around the dungeon. She didn't like this. It was as if the Mondans had known that a TARDIS was going to land right in that spot and they knew that they'd be 'trespassing' on Mondas. She tried to vocalise her concerns, but Romana just batted them down, like she always seemed to. If there was something Romana was concerned with, it's important, if it didn't bother her, it was fine. Slumping back down, she glared at the woman picking the lock.

"But Romana, how did they know we'd be here? Do you think we were lured here?"

"Maybe." Romana's demeanour improved slightly as the door swung open. "There we go. Oh where are you, K9?"

"Great! Let's get out of here," Amy said, completely ignoring Romana's last comment, "I can't sense the segment at all."

"Yes, but we need to find my dog first." Romana looked up and down the corridor. Where was he? He was usually far, far quicker than this.

Slightly puzzled by this reaction, Amy replied "a dog isn't going to help us. We need to get out of here now."

"My dog will help us. We cannot leave without him," Romana snapped.

Amy was getting more and anxious. "How can a dog help us? Look, sooner or later, someone is going to realise we have escaped and they will come looking for us. I'm guessing it will be sooner. We cannot wait around for a dog." She paused, "unless you want to get yourself captured again." Come to think about it, Amy hadn't even seen a dog in the TARDIS.

"I am not saying we should stay here, it's just he should have turned up by now." Romana blew on her whistle again; this caught the attention of several Mondans, one of whom was carrying K9 in a rather undignified manner.

Amy started to panic. Romana had given their position away and all for a metal dog? "Look what you have done Romana. If that's your dog, well we can't do much for him now. We must run."

Romana reluctantly agreed, "Oh fine. But we need to get him back."

The both ran at full speed down endless corridors, twisting and turning until Amy had lost all sense of direction. Romana had that look of determination on her face; she knew where they were running to. Amy had not been designed to run this much and as she started to slow down, Romana pulled her into an enclave. Amy leant against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Romana hardly seemed phased by all that running.

"Did we lose them?" Amy wondered. She could hear nothing but her own breathing.

Romana ignored Amy's comment. "Look, I know you don't understand what he is, or what he means to me. You haven't even been alive long enough to fathom anything like that. But we must get him back. Even if it means getting recaptured again ourselves."

How patronising! Amy thought, but she decided to bite her tongue and said "Okay, okay, who am I to argue with the President of Gallifrey, but we still need to get out of here. The segment is not here, I am sure of that."

Romana heard the worry in Amy's voice. She knew that all Amy could think about was finding the segments; after all, that is what she had been made for. "Look, I'm sorry I'm getting us in a mess that we don't need to." Romana said apologetically, "I'm not normally like this, I promise."

"Okay, we will get your dog back." Amy smiled, seeing the worry in Romana's eyes, "Those Mondans will be looking for us. I can't hear them though, we must have lost them. I think we should go this way, but keep to the walls."

"Yes, that should work." Romana said rather too abruptly. "If these Mondans have any sense, and I'm fairly sure they do, they will have taken K9 to the laboratory. They took me past it when they dragged me in. It should be at the end of this corridor on the right."

Amy shivered, "This is unnerving, and where are all the guards? We are walking into a trap." She desperately wanted to get back to the TARDIS.

"You know, I had figured that out," Romana snapped. How obvious could someone be? "You stay here, there's no point us both walking straight into danger."

"That's fine by me," Amy said as Romana made her way down the corridor. "I guess you don't like playing second fiddle either. You Time Lords are all the same," she muttered.

Amy waited. And waited. She didn't know how much time had passed. She couldn't hear anything. What had happened to Romana? She would never forgive Romana if she had gotten herself captured again.

After what felt like hours, Romana came running down the corridor with K9 under her arm.

"Run!" she shouted. Amy didn't need telling twice. She sprinted after Romana. The Mondans were right behind her. Amy had no idea where they were running to; she just followed Romana who seemed to know where she was going. They ran for what felt like miles, to Amy at least. She stumbled a couple of times, and each time could swear she felt the breath of a Mondan on her neck. She was sure that they were going to catch her. Her breathing became short and sharp with every breath like a dagger in her lungs, but she didn't stop. Eventually they reached the TARDIS. Amy had never been so pleased to see anything before. Romana scrabbled for her key whilst still holding K9 in one arm. The door swung open and they tumbled in. Romana quickly closed the door on the Mondans, who were banging and kicking it, trying to get it to open again.

Romana turned to Amy, beaming, "Well, that was fun wasn't it? Really gets the hearts beating." She turned to K9, "K9, are you alright?"

Hearts? She has more than one? Amy thought. No wonder she wasn't out of breath. She had barely broken a sweat. "Fun?" She almost squeaked it. "I only have one heart." Amy partially added it in order to remind Romana that not everyone had the physical capabilities of a bloody Time Lord.

"I haven't been out for a while. All that running, I miss it, more that I think sometimes." Romana sighed; remembering all those times when she and the Doctor had run away from danger in Paris, on Skaro, in E-Space. It was Amy's voice that snapped her out her daydream, "Not much running involved in being a President then."

"No, no." The sarcasm had been completely lost on Romana. She knelt down by K9, "K9, this is Amy. She's another Mistress, okay? You respond to her commands as well as mine and Leela's. Amy, K9, my dog. He should listen to you now, too."

"Hello K9." Amy changed the subject. "We still haven't found the segment. The Doctor and Zara must have gotten to it before we did." Suddenly a thought struck her, a horrible thought. "Do you think they are the reason why those Mondans were waiting for us?" Amy saw the determination in Romana's eyes, "Quite possibly, but we cannot worry about that now. We need to find the rest of the segments before they do. Can you sense the segment now?"

"No, we need to be in the vortex before I can get a read on the co-ordinates."

"Ok then." Romana started pressing buttons and the TARDIS dematerialised. There was a look of sadness in Romana's eyes which Amy noticed.

"Romana, why don't you just not go back? See the universe instead of being under a pile of rules and paperwork. You obviously miss the adventure."

Romana looked up, the longing written all over her face. "I don't know. A sense of responsibility, I suppose. At least for a short while... I know I shouldn't look at this as a break, but I can't help it."

"Don't go back. We have this TARDIS, there's nothing stopping you from going back to Gallifrey. Don't you remember the thrill of travelling with the Doctor?"

"Yes, and that's the problem. Anyway, never mind my petty problems. The segment?" Romana didn't want to discuss this further. Amy realised this and stopped pushing. "Right, sorry. This stupid machine is still saying Three-Zero-Five-Five-Two-Delta Minus-Negative Three. One of us must be wrong, me or the TARDIS."

Romana, pleased at the change of subject said, "Right then. These TARDIS flying lessons you asked for. Let's get you to guide us in as close to the segment as possible. First things first. This thing has the capability to be flown by one person, or more. It's easier, admittedly, if being flown by two or more people. It's quite intuitive, really." She paused, "Are you sure you'll be able to cope? If not... we can try the hit and miss method we carried out last time."

"I don't think we can trust the hit-and-miss method again. I don't want to get captured again! I think I can handle this thing." Amy took hold of the controls. Something didn't feel right at all. "Woah Romana! This doesn't seem to like me taking control."

This wasn't what Romana had expected to happen, but it wasn't unheard of. She remembered her first TARDIS flying lesson, when she tried to dematerialise, she ended up turning the lights out and it took 50 microspans to turn them back on again. "Just wait. Let go of the controls. K9, get out of the way. There. I think, the problem is your feeding it too much information in one go. You're all hormones, over-eager and have an insatiable desire to find these segments, right?" Amy nodded, feeling like she'd made quite a fool of herself.

"Let's just start again. Keep your mind as clear as possible. Now, take hold of this and this," she indicated to two controls to Amy's left, "No carefully! Keep an eye on this panel," Romana pointed to a panel just in front of her. "If it's in the red, something's going wrong. Black, very wrong. You need to keep the dial within the orange section. That's all down to mind control. I'll go over to this side and help to stabilise us as we go through the vortex. Use your mind - slowly - to drive us towards the destination co-ordinates you have in mind."

That was a lot of information to take on board, Amy thought. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. She opened her eyes and noticed the dial was still orange. She sighed. "It's still orange, oh no, now it's red." Suddenly, Amy saw a blinding white light and her head felt like it was split in two. She clutched her head and fell to the floor.

Romana, remaining as calm as she could, said, "K9, monitor her. Tell me anything you can find out, okay?" She ran off into the depths of the TARDIS to get the medical kit.

"Romana. My head." Amy cried. Tears were running down her face.

"Yes, I'm back." She said gently, kneeling down beside Amy. "It's okay... tell me what happened."

Romana sounded as if she was miles away, and it required almost all of her last vestiges of energy to scrabble on to consciousness to reply. "It hurts so much. It burns. It won't stop." Amy screwed up her face in pain.

"Alright, shh." Romana tried to comfort Amy, but wasn't doing a particularly good job. "K9, where is that information I asked of you?"

"Help me Romana. I can't take the pain."

K9 had connected with the TARDIS and his report was printing out from the console. Romana snatched it and skimmed through the first five pages, her face going whiter and whiter. "THANK you, K9. That took far too long, I'll have to check out your motors. Something must have happened to you on Mondas." K9 backed away guiltily, as Romana continued fretting. "But I'm not good enough to carry out this kind of procedure. Great, we have to go back to Gallifrey already."

"G-G-Gallifrey?" Amy said extremely weakly before completely losing consciousness.


End file.
